Christine_Cagney

Loretta starred along with Tyne Daly, in the TV Movie of Cagney and Lacey in 1981, playing, Det. Christine Cagney.
A little known fact is that Loretta wanted to LEAVE M*A*S*H - SACRILEGE! - to do the show. Luckily for her and us mad fans, FOX wouldn't let her leave, and so was doing M*A*S*H for a further 2 years (The 4077th would be hell without Hotlips Houlihan). She would have been fantastic in the full time role of Cagney...a mixture of 'Hotlips' 'Margaret' and Loretta herself.
Because of this, Meg Foster took over the role of Cagney for the Pilot and was yet again replaced by Sharon Gless as they thought she was seen as 'not feminine enough'.
But this is about Loretta Swit so here's a bit on the charcter of Christine Cagney, when Loretta had the reins.

Christine Cagney - the tougher, harder one of the pair. She is single, is a headstrong rebel, too impatient to follow orders or observe protocol. Whereas Lacey - married, a mother and by the book - is her complete opposite.

C'mon, when are we gonna see some action? (as in CRIME)

Stealthily the police officers pad across the city roof and circle the skylight. They peer through the panes of glass to the lot below where a group of people in surgical masks are sitting at a table measuring white powder into a mixing bowl, then stirring it with wooden spoons. The officers look at each other and nod, the signal to lift the skylight and point their guns inside. "Freeze!" they shout. "Police!"

Early on we are introduced to Chris Cagney. She is climbing out of bed and into uniform while an anonymous lover sighs "You were terrific" and waits for similar confirmation from her. But all she offers is a crack "New York's finest." While he is begging her to take the day off and spend it with him, she is gearing up for the work ahead and is already millions of emotional miles away form him. "I'll call you," she says absent-mindedly before disappearing out the door.

The gals pose [How CUTE is she in that little cop uniform!]

Together, Cagney and Lacey are a team responsible for each other's well-being and life, and thanks to an outstanding record they are promoted to detective, out of uniform into plain clothes work. Being female, they are immediately shunted onto 'the john detail', which not only requires them to "disguise" (humiliate) themselves as prostitutes and busy themselves with "victimless crimes" but also distances them even further from more important and pressing cases at hand.
One such case involves finding the brutal killer of a Hasidic diamond merchant, and although Cagney and Lacey's superiors in the precinct are not disposed to assign them this investigation, Cagney especially wants a crack at it.

This is what Loretta had to say about the role:
"When I first began to read it, I was going to say, 'No, thank you.' It was the farthest thing from my mind to play a policewoman," Loretta Swit admits. "I was afraid that I wouldn't understand a person who wears a gun as part of a job. It seemed like a hundred-and-eighty-degree turn for me because I'm (a) a pacifist (b) for gun control and (c) for peace-I've worked the last nine years in a show that endorses peace. So I had a lot of doubts. But the script impressed me. It was a good story with a lot to say about women and sexism. However, before I committed myself to it, I did a few weeks of research with a policewoman. Every day I went out in a patrol car. I learned how to shoot and even became a marksman. By the end of my research I was very excited about doing the picture. By now I love this character, Chris Cagney. She's a heroine. She's brave, bright, and ambitious, and I think it's important to see what this kind of woman can do and also what this kind of woman is up against."

"A funny thing happens when you put on that police uniform. You feel capable, protective, and you begin to watch out for other people."

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